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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

STATE OF ALABAMA 



ALABAMA TEACHERS* PROFESSIONAL 
READING COURSE 

WITH 

SUGGESTIONS FOR COUNTY AND GROUP 
MEETINGS 




1919-1920 



BROWN PRINTING CO. MONTGOMERY. 



FOREWORD 



This suggestive plan for studying Reading Circle texts is 
issued in compliance with the law which makes it the duty of the 
State Superintendent of Education to prepare outlines for insti- 
tutes and group meetings. County Superintendents of Education 
and City Superintendents of schools are requested to make such 
use of the material as will best promote the training of teachers 

in service under their respective jurisdictions. 

It is hoped that the list of topics and suggested subjects for 
study and review may make possible the co-ordination of the pro- 
fessional reading course with the everyday school and community 
problems. 

Very truly, 



Superintendent. 

D» ox h. 

m 13 192$ 



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SUGGESTIVE PLANS AND OUTLINES FOR USE IN TEACH- 
ERS' MEETINGS, WITH RULES AND REGULATIONS 
RELATING TO READING CIRCLE WORK 



The new law governing the training of teachers in service charges the 
county superintendent of education with the responsibility of holding county 
meetings and group conferences. These meetings should be for periods not 
shorter than three hours. The first half of the conferences should be given 
to the professional reading circle courses. The second half should be occu- 
pied with discussions of local problems of instruction and supervision, to- 
gether with such matters of general administration as may be brought be- 
fore the teachers. At these meetings the superintendent will have the oppor- 
tunity to discuss standards for the schools and to put into operation forces 
that will increase the efficiency of instruction. These discussions may cen- 
ter round the use of examinations, standard tests, displays of the work of 
the pupils, model lesson plans, and other practical phases of modern school 
work. 

A good plan is to arrange a schedule of assignments to cover the whole 
course of study during the year. The following may be suggestive: 

First month — Reading, spelling, phonics, use of the dictionary. 

Second month — Language, literature, methods in written and oral com- 
position. 

Third month — History, geography, civics, proper correlation and use of 
problem and project methods. 

Fourth month — School hygiene, health, play, physical education, athletics. 

Fifth month — Arithmetic, practical examples, standard tests, drill work. 

Sixth month — Club work and other extra-school activities. 

Seventh month — Promotions, standards for the grades, final examina- 
tions. 

Of course teachers and supervisors must avoid over-emphasis of any 
phase of the course of study to the neglect of other parts. 

These meetings will not be successful as a rule, unless the superintendent 
or an assistant is present. This should apply not only to the county meet- 
ings, but to all group conferences. It is, therefore, essential that these meet- 
ings be arranged so as not to interfere with the superintendent's adminis- 
trative and executive duties which ordinarily require his presence at his 
office on Saturdays. 

A general monthly meeting may be held on Saturday, preferably Saturday 
following the close of each scholastic month, at which time a program may be 
carried out covering both phases of the work suggested above. At these 
meetings, if held at the time suggested, it will be well for the superintendent 
to deliver to the teachers their salary checks. This little item of business 
ordinarily has a wholesome effect on the attendance. 

The group conference should be held at least twice each month in the 
most convenient centers of the county. The program for these conferences 
would be prepared by a committee, under the direction of the county super- 
intendent, at the beginning of the year. All topics of study that are to be 
discussed should be assigned so that the teachers will have opportunity to 
make necessary preparation. This formal program should not interfere 
with the free and informal consideration of current problems. In fact, suf- 
ficient time should be set apart for such discussions which usually will be led 
by the supervisor or some teacher designated by the superintendent, who in 
every way will seek to make these discussions of immediate practical service 



to the teachers. Every teacher should be given opportunity to present some 
product of her instruction during the year. Those responsible for the prep- 
aration of programs should remember that the larger the number of teach- 
ers who participate in the work of the conferences, the larger will be the 
dividends realized; that is, greater enthusiasm on the part of the teachers 
and a growing appreciation of better work in schools. 

The necessity for careful planning of all the work cannot be too strongly 
emphasized. It is so easy to let the work of the meetings "drag," thereby 
causing teachers properly to question their value. The program committee 
should hold a meeting at the close of each conference to readjust the assign- 
ments to meet the demands and needs of the teachers. If the work of this 
committee has been thoroughly performed there is no reason why they 
should not have the support, the interest and the co-operation of all the 
teachers of the county. 

ADuPTED READING CIRCLE TEXTS 1919-1920 

The reading circle books adopted for the current year are as follows: 

Price. 

Bobbitt, "The Curriculum" $1.15 

Foght, "The Rural Teacher and His Work" $1.15 

Bliss, "Methods and Standards for Local School Surveys" $1.05 

Davis, "The Roots of the War" _ $1.20 

These books may be ordered from Loveman, Joseph & Loeb, State Text- 
book Depository, Birmingham, Alabama; single copies will be sent postpaid 
at the prices above. By ordering in lots of ten or more, teachers can save 
five cents on each copy. 

SUGGESTIVE SUPPLEMENTARY READING CIRCLE MATERIAL 

Teachers are requested to use, in connection with the reading circle work, 
the following: 

Bulletin No. 41, 1919, "An Educational Study of Alabama," Bureau of 
Education, Washington, D. C. 

"Alabama Elementary School Manual," Department of Education, Mont- 
gomery, Alabama. (Six cents.) 

The survey authorized by the recent Legislature of Alabama was carried 
on under the direction of the Education Commission appointed by the Gov- 
ernor. This commission called to its assistance specialists in every phase of 
education, who worked under the direction of Dr. P. P. Claxton, U. S. Com- 
missioner of Education. The results of their investigation were embodied in 
a report entitled "A Study of Educational Conditions in Alabama," which 
has been published as a regular bulletin of the U. S. Bureau of Education. 
This bulletin should be studied by every teacher in the State. It may be 
secured by sending 50 cents in cash to the Bureau of Publications, Depart- 
ment of Interior, Washington, D. C. 

The Elementary Manual which has just been prepared for the public 
schools of the State is of immediate and practical service to the teachers and 
should be used as a basis for much of the professional study in all teachers' 
meetings during the coming year. The course of study should hold an im- 
portant place on every program undertaken by any group of teachers. Mod- 
ifications of the course of study should be made in the light of the needs of 
the children, but changes and eliminations cannot be successfully made by 
the individual teacher. This work should be the result of deliberation, care- 
ful study and planning, and should represent group judgment. For practi- 
cal purposes, this suggestion is absolutely essential. For example, one 
teacher plans to omit instruction in formal grammar, and another decides to 

" »t it. 



stress this special phase of the work. When the time comes for uniform 
tests, examinations and promotions, one, if not both, of the teachers will be 
open to serious criticism for failure to prepare the pupils to meet the re- 
quirements or standards of the county. 

On the other hand, if a policy has been agreed upon, the pupils, as well 
as the teachers, informed as to the subject matter to be stressed, there will 
be more general uniformity in the preparation of the several groups under 
any unit of administration. 

COUNTY ORGANIZATION 

A plan which should prove satisfactory, is for the county superintendent 
to appoint a reading circle secretary. If there is an assistant superinten- 
dent, she should be given this position. The president of the county teach- 
ers' association, after conultation with the county superintendent, should 
appoint a program committee. This committee should arrange the programs 
for the entire year, assign topics and plan all phases of the work in such 
manner as to insure the participation of all the teachers in the county, or in 
any special group. Where the roads are impassable in winter, it undoubt- 
edly will be more satisfactory to separate the county into small units, each 
meeting at some convenient center, and carrying out the program as out- 
lined by the general program committee. Each separate group, however, 
should have a leader and a secretary; the leader to be responible for direct- 
ing the work with the assistance of the county superintendent and the super- 
visors, and the secretary to keep an accurate record of the meeting, report- 
ing to the county superintendent the names of those who attended, the 
length of the session, and any other matter of interest required by him. 
Whether the meetings are held by the group or county plan, the reading cir- 
cle work should not comprise the only matter of interest. By having exhib- 
its of the school work, contests of one character and another, it will be possi- 
ble to increase greatly the success and continued interest in the programs. 

RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE ISSUANCE OF 
READING CIRCLE CERTIFICATES 

In order to secure a reading circle certificate, it will be necessary for the 
teacher to comply with the following regulations: 

1. (a) The teacher must have read three of the reading circle texts 
adopted for the current year. 

(b) The teacher must have attended the regular meetings or conferences 
held, usually twice a month, over a period of not less than five months. 

(c) A total of not less than twenty-five hours must have been spent in 
conference meetings, fifteen of which must have been given to the discussion 
of topics connected with the adopted reading circle texts. 

2. Any teacher who has complied with the foregoing requirements is eli- 
gible to take the reading circle examination which will be held by the county 
superintendents at a time and place agreed upon between the county super- 
intendent and State superintendent. The questions will be prepared and the 
papers examined by the State Department of Education. A reading circle 
cei'tificate will be issued to all applicants showing a fair knowledge of the 
texts studied. 

3. Four reading circle certificates entitle the bolder to a reading circle 
diploma. Such diploma will be evidence that the holder has pursued system- 
atically the reading circle work over a period of four years and has, there- 
fore, covered in a fairly definite way all of the general fields of professional 
study, including psychology, schoolroom management, methods of instruc- 
tion, etc. All certificates and diplomas are issued by the State Department 
of Education. 



CREDITS 

1. The holder of a reading circle certificate may have her teacher's cer- 
tificate extended for one year on the basis of professional training received 
while pursuing the reading circle course, provided that such certificate is 
presented within one year following the issuance of the same, and provided 
further that no teacher's certificate will be extended consecutively for more 
than two years on the basis of reading circle certificates. 

2. The holder of a first grade teacher's certificate who has taught forty 
months covering a period of not less than five years may apply for a life cer- 
tificate. A reading circle diploma may be submitted, and such diploma will 
be accepted in lieu of all examination requirements for life certificate, except 
that on history of education. 

(For further information relating to credits see State Department Bulle- 
tin No. 40.) 

OUTLINES FOR GROUP AND COUNTY MEETINGS BASED ON 
READING CIRCLE TEXTS 

The topics and questions given below should be carefully studied by all 
teachers. The study of each of the texts is to cover twelve or more confer- 
ence periods. If the committee decides to use only one text at a time, com- 
bine three or more of the conference assignments, making possible the fin- 
ishing of a text in four or five meetings. While there may be good reasons 
for finishing one text before taking up another, there are even more valid 
arguments in favor of studying all three at the same time. It is possible to 
co-ordinate the whole course to better advantage in this way. The material 
in one text supplements and often clarifies the statements made in another. 

The reading circle course is expected to form a sort of unit. In the texts 
selected this year, the course of study should be considered the general sub- 
ject. "The Curriculum" furnishes a scientific, experimental basis of selection; 
"The Rural Teacher and His Work" attempts to show the importance of the 
teacher, his relations to the community, and his responsibility for the course 
of study; "Methods and Standards for Local School Surveys" suggests the 
approach in a technical way to many phases of the school problem, while 
those chapters that deal with the work of instruction, the proper material 
for the course of study, and the measurement of products of pupil activities, 
are of particular interest to the superintendent and teacher. 

In connection with the suggested conference assignments by chapters, 
there is provided by the authors of three of the reading circle books a compre- 
hensive analysis of their respective texts in the form of questions and prob- 
lems for discussion. We are indebted to the authors for these valuable sugges- 
tions which are given complete as furnished. They should be used by every 
teacher who follows the reading circle course, not merely to test her knowl- 
edge of the text, but to discover the most practical means of using the infor- 
mation given. For, after all, this must be in the last analysis, the measure 
of the success of a profesional reading course — its contribution to a clearer 
understanding of the problems of the school and community and an in- 
creased skill in the fine art of teaching. 



ASSIGNMENTS 

SUGGESTIVE PLANS FOR READING CIRCLE CONFERENCES, BASED 
ON BOBBITT'S CURRICULUM 

(See list of topics prepared by the author.) 

FIRST CONFERENCE: Chapters 1, 2 and 3. 

SECOND CONFERENCE: Chapters 4 and 5. 

THIRD CONFERENCE: Chapter 6. 

FOURTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 7. 

FIFTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 8 and 9. 

SIXTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 10. 

SEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 11. 

EIGHTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 12. 

NINTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 13. 

TENTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 14, 15 and 16. 

ELEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 14, 15 and 16. 

TWELFTH CONFERENE: Chapter 17. 

THIRTEENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 18. 

FOURTEENTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 19, 20 and 21. 

FIFTEENTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 19, 20 and 21. 

FOGHT'S "THE RURAL TEACHER AND HIS WORK." 

(See list of topics in text following each chapter prepared by the author.) 

FIRST CONFERENCE: Introduction and Chapter 1, Part I. 
SECOND CONFERENCE: Chapters 2 and 3, Part I. 
THIRD CONFERENCE: Chapter 4, Part I. 
FOURTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 5, Part I. 
FIFTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 6, Part I. 
SIXTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 1, Part II. 
SEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 2, Part II. 
EIGHTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 3 and 4, Part II. 
NINTH CONFERENCE. Chapters 5 and 6, Part II. 
TENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 1, Part III. 
ELEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 2. Part III. 
TWELFTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 3, Part III. 
THIRTEENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 4, Part III. 
FOURTEENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 5, Part III. 
FIFTEENTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 6 and 7, Part III. 

BLISS' "METHODS AND STANDARDS FOR LOCAL SCHOOL 
SURVEYS." 

(See list of topics prepared by the author.) 

FIRST CONFERENCE: Chapter 3. 
SECOND CONFERENCE: Chapter 4. 
THIRD CONFERENCE: Chapter 4. 
FOURTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 6 and 7. 
FIFTH CONFERENCE; Chapters 6 and 7. 
SIXTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 8. 
SEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 8. 
EIGHTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 9. 
NINTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 10. 
TENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 11. 
ELEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 11. 
TWELFTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 12. 



DAVIS' "THE ROOTS OF THE WAR." 

(See list of topics prepared by the author.) 

FIRST CONFERENCE: Chapters 1, 2, and 3. 
SECOND CONFERENCE: Chapters 4 and 5. 
THIRD CONFERENCE: Chapters 6, 7 and 8. 
FOURTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 9 and 10. 
FIFTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 11. 
SIXTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 12 and 13. 
SEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 14. 
EIGHTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 15 and 16. 
NINTH CONFERENCE: Chapter 17. 
TENTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 18, 19 and 20. 
ELEVENTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 21 and 22. 
TWELFTH CONFERENCE: Chapters 23 and 24. 

STUDY EXERCISES TO BE USED WITH THE CURRICULUM 

Prepared by the Author. 

PART I 

ENDS AND PROCESSES 

Chapter I. Two Levels of Educational Experience 

1. What kind of educational results are most valued by the advocates of 
culture ? 

2. How would they have the studies organized for the purpose ? 

3. What specific kinds of educational results are most valued by practi- 
cal-minded men ? 

4. Upon what basis would they choose the materials that are to make up 
the studies? 

5. Draw up a list of science-topics that clearly are of practical value in 
health-care, gardening, cooking, or other fields of practical responsibility. 
Are there any valid reasons why these topics should not be included in the 
curriculum ? 

6. Draw up a list of science topics that appear to be of little or no imme- 
diate pi'actical use to most people, but which expand one's mental vision, 
satisfy intellectual cravings, and otherwise appear to "humanize" one. What 
arguments can be presented in favor of including such "useless' topics in the 
curriculum? Are they useless? 

7. If further illustrations are desired, draw up similar lists of "practical" 
and "cultural" topics in history, geography, mathematics, language-study, 
etc. 

8. What justification is there in saying that the purely cultural studies 
provide "experiences upon the play level" while the practical or applied 
studies provide "experiences upon the work level?" 

9. Why are both kinds of experiences needed? 

10. Why should our discussion refer more to "educational experiences" 
whereas the discussions of years ago referred chiefly to "learning?" 

Chapter II. Educational Experiences Upon the Play Level 

1. What impels pupils to play? How are they educated by their play? 

2. Why do animals play? Is there any relation between the ways of dif- 
ferent species of animals play and the kinds of activities which they are to 
perform when grown ? 



y 

3. Is there any relation between the kinds of plays of children as prompt- 
ed by instinct and the lives that they are later to lead as men and women? 
Use concrete illustrations as basis of thought and discussion. 

4. Make a list of intellectual play-experiences and explain their values 
for intellectual education ? 

5. What are some of the school studies that may rightly be regarded as 
high-grade intellectual play? How should such studied be written and pre- 
sented to the pupils in order to be most effective as high-grade play? 

6. Draw up a list of social activities which are of the play type and which 
are at the same time of educational value. What are the educational values? 

7. Draw up a list of physical activities which are of the play type and 
which can be utilized in the physical education of the students. How should 
they be organized and directed so as to be of largest possible educational 
value ? 

8. Does the motivation demand that all of these activities be so organ- 
ized and directed as to be as interesting to pupils as possible? Explain. 

9. Does a large use of intei*est bring about a relaxed and lazy kind of 
educational experience or does it prompt energetic and vigorous activity on 
the part of the pupils? Explain on the basis of concrete illustrations. 

10. With what kind of supplementary books should schools be supplied in 
order that much of the geography, history, science, etc., may be vigorous and 
zestful experience of the play type? 

11. How can experiences of this type be introduced into the teaching of 
arithmetic, spelling, reading, writing, and other subjects which necessarily 
involve a good deal of drill ? 

12. What are some practical obstacles to going as far as we might wish 
in these matters? Why must progress be necessarily rather slow? 

13. What are some educational results of an altogether necessary type 
which cannot well result from experiences on the play level and. which, there- 
fore, demand experiences of a more responsible character? 

Chapter III. Educational Experiences on the Work-Level 

1. What is the essential difference between play and work? 

2. Outside of one's calling, what are some of the responsible activities 
which one must perform? Why are these to be looked upon as work just as 
fully as the activities of his calling? 

3. Does play-experience ever involve the sense of serious responsibility? 
Can one have work-experience without a sense of serious responsibility? 

4. Make a list of activities which can be used in the training of the chil- 
dren of your community and which involve more or less serious responsi- 
bility. 

5. Draw up a further list of activities involving serious responsibility 
which probably ousrht to be utilized in the education of the children of your 
comnvnHy but which for practical reasons cannot at present be employed. 

6. What are some of the educational values in vocational training of 
having: the boy work half-time in an actual trade-shop and half-time in the 
school ? 

7. From the point of view of introducing serious responsibility, what is to 
be said in favor of the plan of giving educational ci'edit for many kinds of 
home work ? 

8. What are some of the practical obstacles which prevent our using as 
much experience of the work-level for education as we should desire? 

9. Are there any proper school activities which belong neither to the 
play type nor the work type? If so, what are they? 

10. Using the sense of responsibility for serious results as the distin- 
guishine feature of work, which bulks larger in our usual public school edu- 
cation, the experiences of the work-level or those of the play-level ? 



10 
Chapter IV. The Place of Ideas in Work Experience 

1. Into what two phases can any work-task be divided ? 

2. What is the nature of the antecedent performance ? Why should it be 
very carefully and thoroughly done? 

3. Where schools have access to actual work opportunities for training 
purposes, what mistakes can be made in the matter of the antecedent per- 
formance ? 

4. What kinds of economy are effected through a careful and critical per- 
formance of the antecedent activities involved in the planning? 

5. Which of the two stages of a piece of work has the greatest value for 
intellectual training ? Since this is the case, can the other stage be omitted 
without serious loss? Why? 

6. Explain and illustrate the project-method of education. 

7. What are some of the factors of the project-method which require 
rather full development in order that it may be effective ? 

Chapter V. Where Education Can Be Accomplished 

1. Take the list of experiences on the play-level made out in connection 
with a previous chapter and examine each by way of discovering where the 
experience would best be had, whether at school, at home, or at some other 
place in the community. 

2. In the same way examine the items one by one on the list of experi- 
ences of the work-type. 

3. Why must very many of the experiences of the work-type be had at 
home and throughout the community rather than at the school building? 

4. Why is it that the play experiences transfer to the school premises 
with so much greater ease? 

5. Why are the so-called vocational activities at our school buildings 
often only forms of high-grade play rather than work ? What change in the 
place or nature of performance is necessary before they can become real 
work? 

6. Make a list of home and community activities for which educational 
credit may well be given in your community? 

7. What should the schools do by way of preparing the student for prop- 
erly performing these home and community activities ? Then how can the 
schools supervise the activities ? 

8. Of the two stages of a complete work-process — the antecedent per- 
formance and the actual performance — which can be most effectively taken 
care of at the school building, and which requires most frequent transfer to 
home or other place in the community. 

Chapter VI. Scientific Method in Curriculum-Making 

1. What are some of the general purposes of education as our profession 
used to enumerate them ? Why were these purposes so useless for the ac- 
tual day-by-day directions of the educational work within class rooms ? 

2. What kinds of purposes or objectives are we nowadays seeking for the 
guidance of education? 

3. How are these modern objectives to be discovered ? 

4. Explain and illustrate the distinction between directed ad undirected 
educational experiences. 

5. Why must the curriculum-maker take into account both the directed 
and undirected experiences of children? Which is the more important in 
the total education of the child ? Which occupies the larger place in the 
school curriculum? 



11 

6. Where does one acquire most of one's knowledge of the English lan- 
guage, — in the directed or the undirected language experience ? What por- 
tion of grammar needs to be consciously taught and what portion need not be 
taught ? 

7. Do all persons need the same course in grammar or should it be longer 
for certain individuals than for others? To whom should the longer course 
be given? 

8. Explain and illustrate the statement: "An error is a symptom of the 
need of training." 

9. How can one discover the words which people in general should know 
how to spell and which, therefore, should be included in the spelling course? 

10. How is one to discover the words to which large attention should be 
given in teaching and those which can mainly be left to undirected experi- 
ence? 

11. Should the words carefully studied in the spelling training be the 
same for all of the pupils ? Explain. 

12. Explain a method of discovering what people actually need to know 
and to be able to do in the field of arithmetic ? After one has discovered all 
of the things actually needed how are teachers to decide as to the things 
upon which large emphasis must be placed and the things which need not be 
given very much attention? 

13. In drawing up a course of study for girls in home cooking, home 
needlework, home decoration, or home sanitation how should one proceed in 
securing the necessary facts ? 

14. What is a scientific method of discovering the objectives in drawing 
up a course for boys in agriculture, carpentry, printing, or cement construc- 
tion? 

15. Why is the problem of discovering the particular purposes of history, 
literature, and geography so much more difficult than those above men- 
tioned ? 

16. What are some of the things which must be ascertained before we are 
ready to begin selecting the topics to be treated in our history? 

17. Why is it the problem of drawing up a course of training in civics a 
very difficult one at the present time ? 

18. Explain and illustrate the following: "Education is to serve the dou- 
ble function of conserving the gains that have been made by humanity and 
at the same time of serving as the chief agency of social progress." 

PART II 

TRAINING FOR OCCUPATIONAL EFFICIENCY 

Chapter VII. Purposes of Vocational Training 

1. Why should there be so strong a prejudice against including so useful 
a thing in public schools as vocational training ? 

2. What occupations of men and women in your community are of such 
simple primitive character that the workers could not benefit in any way 
from special training for the work ? Draw up a list of other occupations rep- 
resented in your region that could profit, whether little or much, from sys- 
tematic training ? 

3. Enumerate some of the working conditions frequently surrounding 
men's and women's work that are undesirable or injurious. Which of them 
can be eliminated through increased enlightenment? In the case of each, 
what kind of enlightenment will be most helpful? 

4. Stated in general terms what are the purposes of occupational train- 
ing? 

5. Why are some occupations more desirable than others, even though 
the financial rewards are the same ? 



12 

6. What appears to be necessary by way of making the less desirable 
occupations more attractive and socially satisfying? What part has educa- 
tion to play in this process ? 

7. How can the list of occupational shortcomings presented on pages 
66-68 be used in drawing up courses of training for vocational education? 

8. What difficulties will superintendents, principals, and teachers meet 
with in attempting to employ any such list of occupational deficiencies in 
drawing up courses of study ? 

9. What is meant bj saying that schools must be the primary agencies of 
social progress in the occupational field? Explain and illustrate. 

10. As we train men and women for the appreciations, the attitudes, and 
the types of action that "ought to be," how are we to make decision in the 
face of so much conflicting opinion as to the "things that ought to be?" 

11. What must be the necessary effect of continuing disagreement upon 
progress in occupational education? 

Chapter VIII. Specialized Technical Training 

Note: Study of this chapter may well be omitted by elementary teachers 
except it may be read merely for general information. 

1. The teacher's calling is a specialized one requiring both technical 
knowledge and technical skill. Not until what age can one profitably enter 
upon his specialized training for this calling? Are there any other adult 
occupations for which specialized training might begin at an earlier age? 
Have the elementary schools, therefore, anything to do with the specialized 
training for different occupations? To what extent is it actually taken care 
of in our present high schools? Is it a proper task for the high schools? 

2. In drawing up a course of training for some specialized occupation as, 
for example, farming, how will one proceed by way of discovering the kinds 
of technical knowledge needed ? The kinds of technical skill ? 

3. Name some occupations which have long been conceived of as requir- 
ing both technical knowledge and practical skill? Name some that have 

been looked upon as requiring practically nothing more than practical skill. 

4. Why is it becoming more and more necessary for all types of inde- 
pendent tradesmen, hoi sehold workers, etc., to be trained for technical 
knowledge as well as practical skill? 

5. What kind of teacher is it who is always prepared to meet new kinds 
of situations? What kind of teacher is simply^ bewildered by new kinds of 
situations ? What kind of training is, therefore, needed to make the effi- 
cient teacher? 

6. In same way, what type of farmer or housewife, or carpenter, or 
printer is able to meet the new situations without difficulty as they arise and 
what type merely flounders about not knowing what to do and usually doing 
the wrong thing? 

7. Is it true that the technical occupation training is mainly a matter of 
intellectual training? Explain and illustrate. 

Chapter IX. The Specialized Training of Group Workers 

Note: Study of this chapter may very well be omitted by elementary 
teachers except as it may be read merely for general information. 

1. As men's work becomes more and more specialized and as they associ- 
ate in large organizations for its performance, is the educational task of 
training the individual workers increased or diminished ? 

2. What understanding of the total labors of an organization is needed 
by each individual worker: (a) for doing his particular specialized task in 
the organization? (b) for co-ordinating his efforts with those of his associ- 
ates? 



13 

3. How is democracy to be introduced into the management of a large 
organization as for example, the large school system, the large factory, the 
large railroad organization, etc.? What kind of outlook and intelligence is 
demanded for such democratic management? What does this dictate as to 
the course of training ? 

4. Can the specialized training of group workers be accomplished entirely 
within schools? Explain and illustrate. 

5. Why is it necessary to educate for the right mental attitudes ? In this 
training of group workers what kind of training is necessary for developing 
such desirable attitudes ? 

6. Why must the director of a large organization be fully informed as to 
the "human element?" What information is then also needed on the part of 
the workers in general in order that they may rightly co-operate with the 
managers in the conduct of the organization ? 

7. What portion of the problems here referred to rightly belong to the 
public school system ? 

Chapter X. Social Aspects of Occupational Training 

1. Into what main divisions may the whole field of occupations be divid- 
ed? Mention some of the subdivisions into which the main divisions may 
still further be divided? 

2. Why is it desirable that people in general should have some under- 
standing of these various occupational groups ? 

3. What is the practical purpose in requiring our students to master so 
much information concerning different occupations in our usual teaching of 
geography ? 

4. What is meant by the phrase "social supervision of the occupational 
world?" How is it accomplished at the present time? Does this method 
secure the most efficient possible occupational service on the part of differ- 
ent specialized groups? What further improvement might be accomplished 
through enlightened public opinion? What kind of training is needed by 
way of developing this supervisory public opinion? 

5. Wherein are privately organized and directed occupations and publicly 
organized and directed occupations alike in their social responsibilities? In 
their social rights ? Wherein are they different as to their social responsi- 
bilities? Wherein different to their social rights? Should there be a dif- 
ference in the kind of educational preparation for the social supervision of 
the two groups of occupations? 

6. What practical activities in different occupational fields should chil- 
dren perform in order to get a foundation understanding of the labors of 
men in different fields? 

7. For the purposes in view should the concrete occupational activities be 
different for boys and girls ? 

8. Where a school is not in a position to provide such a large number of 
concrete opportunities, what should they attempt? 

9. Draw up a list of the occupational matters of your community which 
the students ought to observe with care by way of growing familiar with the 
various fields of human occupation. 

10. Draw up a list of the products of occupations which children and 
youths should be currently observing and examining by way of preparing 
themselves for good judgment as consumers of the products of the various 
occupations. 

11. Which is more important training for our occupational classes, learn- 
ing to make a chair in the manual training shop or learning to jud°re of the 
various chairs that are offered upon the market? Learning to make cloth- 
ing in the school sewing room or learning to judge of the qualities and val- 
ues of clothing as these are presented in the market? What deductions may 



14 

be drawn from your conclusions as to the work of the occupational classes in 
elementary and high schools ? 

12. Explain how it is possible to enter vicariously into the labors of an 
occupational group through reading. What must be the nature or character 
of the reading if it is to serve this purpose ? 

13. What kind of historical reading concerning industries should be made 
available in supplementary reading books? 

14. Wherein is the usual history text-book deficient in its presentation of 
the development of occupations ? 

15. What kinds of geographical reading concerning industries needs to 
T>e provided in our geographical supplementary reading books? 

16. What are the shortcomings of the usual geography textbook in its 
presentation of occupational matters ? 

17. Besides the historical and geographical readings of occupations, what 
■ other kinds should also be provided in the supplementary books? 

Note: As possible readings are discussed, teachers ought to be supplied 
with lists of titles of books upon the market which can be used for the pur- 
poses mentioned. Usually a few at least could be purchased for the school 
library even in the poorest districts. 

PART III 

EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 

Chapter XL The Nature of the Good Citizen 

1. Why must we have a list of the things which the good citizen does be- 
fore we can make out a good course in training for citizenship ? 

2. Make out a list of things which the good citizen of your community 
should be currently doing in his capacity of good citizen. 

3. What difficulties do you meet with in drawing up your list? Mention 
some kinds of social disagreement that are involved in making decision. 

4. Enumerate things which the primitive good citizen would do for the 
members of his own tribe. Enumerate some that he had to do in connection 
with alien tribes. 

5. Exlain why both the intra-group attitudes and the extra-group atti- 
tudes as enumerated on page 119, are both called virtues? 

6. Under what circumstances did the extra-group virtues become vices 
or crimes? Under what circumstances did the intra-group virtues become 
vices or crimes? 

7. Where social group is arrayed against social group, is it possible to 
prevent adherence to both social and anti-social standards of action, the one 
towards one's own group, the other toward the outside group? 

8. What are some territorial groups in connection with the activities of 
which the two sets of attitudes or virtues naturally arise? In such cases, 
in our own days, v/hat must the good citizen do in his relation to his own 
people? What must he do toward alien nations? 

9. Can we eliminate the anti-social attitudes of nations towards each 
other? Is it the part of good citizenship to attempt to do so? 

10. Draw up a list of the specialized eroups into which a laree nation can 
break up through division of labor or difference in mode of thinking? Do 
these groups have conflicting interests? Do they tend to look upon each 
other as alien groups ? 

11. Under what circumstances will these functional erroups within our 
country adopt botb the social and the anti-social standards of conduct? 
Why? 

12. Under what conditions only can we eliminate the anti-social attitudes 
and actions? 



15 

13. Explain the meaning of the term "large-group consciousness." Why 
should we call this the state of mind of the good citizen of today? 

14. Since the world must always be broken up into territorial groups and 
since each nation must always be broken up into functional groups, is it pos- 
sible to eliminate the "small-group consciousness" and the tendencies toward 
small-group antagonisms ? If not, how are they to be regulated in a state of 
society where all persons are good citizens ? 

15. How is education to develop the large-group social attitudes ? 

Chapter XII. The Development of Enlightened Large-Group Consciousness 

1. Present some illustrations from the community life about you showing 
that one develops a consciousness of membership in a social group by action, 
as a member of that group in the promotion of the affairs of the group. 

2. Where the social group is very large, what is the vital function per- 
formed by language in helping one to participate in the affairs of the very 
large group ? Illustrate from the field of political parties, religious organi- 
zations, trade organizations, fraternal groups, business groups, etc. 

3. What are some of the things that our nation as a nation has been 
doing for promoting the welfare of those who make it up? 

4. How is it possible for citizens whether young or old to enter into these 
national activities in such way as to be themselves part of the national group, 
and engaged in performing the large group national activities? 

5. What kinds of readings concerning current affairs are most helpful 
for the purpose? Are these readings needed by children of school age as 
well as by the adult generation ? If so, what practical changes or improve- 
ments in our curriculum and in the materials employed are demanded? 

6. What kinds of historical readings are needed for the purpose ? Why 
is it desirable that the stories be full of concrete detail, be as interesting as 
they can be made, and present as full a reconstruction of past human action 
as practicable? What improvement in the materials used in our history 
training are thus demanded ? Shall we aim at social attitudes or historical 
information ? If the former, is it necessary to memorize all of the facts that 
are presented in these stories ? 

7. The stories of what national activities ought to be presented fully by 
way of developing the large-group national consciousness ? 

8. How is the participation through reading to be managed so as not to 
develop undesirable prejudices against territorial or functional groups? 
How is it to be managed so as to develop a fair and balanced set of attitudes 
and sympathies ? 

9. Note the list of civic activities presented on page 142. Draw up a 
fairly complete list of civic activities of that character which are appropriate 
for your own community. (This is largely a city list; for the open country 
a different list is needed.) 

10. Examine your list of activities and find those in which the student of 
elementary or high school age can take some part for the sake of their train- 
ing. To what extent is it possible to manage the matter of sudent-partici- 
pation practically? 

11. What kinds of facts is it possible for the pupils of your community 
to gather and organize for practical civic purposes ? 

12. Draw up a list of concrete tasks, similar to those presented on page 
154, which young people can perform in your community. 

13. What must be the relation between adult and juvenile civic activities 
if this practical participation for educational purposes is to be permanent 
and effective ? 

14. What favorable opportunities for student participation in serious 
activities were presented by the war work during our participation in the 



16 

war? How may the movement be continued for the good of the pupils dur- 
ing peace times ? 

15. Is the development of large-group-consciousness of international 
charactec a problem for the training of our present day citizenship in this 
country ? Explain. 

16. In what departments of human affairs are we already international 
minded? In what departments does nationalism represent the boundaries of 
our mental horizon? What are some of the things making for an extension 
of this horizon? 

17. What kinds of history does it appear we need by way of developing 
an understanding of and sympathy with the various peoples who make up 
the world-family ? Mention some changes in elementary and high school 
curriculum before this can be effectively done. Is the thing practicable? Is 
some portion of the program practicable? If so, what is this? 

18. What does this purpose demand as regards our literature? What 
changes does it demand in the usual literature? 

19. Is it possible to find the time for any such enlargement of the pro- 
gram of education as indicated in this chapter? If so, how? 

Chapter XIII. Moral and Religious Education 

1. Why should moral education be here treated in direct connection with 
civic education ? 

2. What is the position of large-group consciousness in moral educa- 
tion ? In religious education ? 

3. If we have a fully developed course of social training which will ac- 
complish the various civic and social purposes referred to, is there any addi- 
tional special moral education ? If so, what is it ? 

PART IV 

EDUCATION FOR PHYSICAL EFFICIENCY 

Chapter XIX. The Fundamental Task of Education 

1. Make out a list of ways in which one's daily store of vital energy is 
legitimately expended. What kinds of information do people need for the 
sake of wise or economical legitimate expenditure ? What kind of habits do 
they need to form ? 

2. Make out a list of illegitimate modes of expenditure. What kinds of 
information do people need concerning each in order to avoid such unwise 
expenditures ? What are some habits which they need to form ? 

3. Make out a list of activities and conditions which are conducive to a 
proper restoration of depleted vitality. What are some kinds of information 
needed for self-direction in performing these activities and providing these 
conditions ? What kinds of habits do people need to form ? 

4. Make out a list of conditions or activities which tend to prevent a 
proper restoration of depleted vitality. In connection with each, what knowl- 
edge do people need to possess in order that they may avoid such deleterious 
conditions or activities ? What good habits do they need to form by way of 
counteracting wrong tendencies? 

5. Looking at the question from the point of view of this chapter, what 
are some reasons in favor of the growing practice in many cities of requir- 
ing teachers, before they can be employed, to undergo a complete physical 
examination and to present a certificate of sound health ? Why should large 
business organizations be employing physicians and nurses to look after tne 
health of their employees ? 



17 

Chapter XV. Physical Training 

1. What should be the central purpose of all physical training? What 
activities are required for this purpose? Where can these activities take 
place ? 

2. Mention some things in favor of the formal gymnastics or calisthenics. 
What are some of its shortcomings? 

3. Why should plays, games, sports, athletics, folk-dancing, etc., be in- 
creasingly employed for physical education v/ith a consequent decline in the 
amount of time and attention given to formal calisthenics or gymnastics ? 

4. Make out a list of plays, games, athletic exercises, etc., which are 
appropriate for the physical exercises of children at different stages of their 
development. 

5. Besides muscular exercise what are other things involved in any com- 
plete system of physical development? In the case of each to what extent 
can the training be accomplished at the school and to what extent must it be 
through directed and supervised activities of the young people at home and 
in their general community life? 

6. Enumerate some of the obstacles in the way of the teachers' direction 
or supervision of activities needed for health-knowledge or health habits 
which cannot take place at the school building. Mention certain other things, 
in the case of which a beginning at least can be made. What can the schools 
do by way of extending this latter list? 

Chapter XVI. The Social Factors of Physical Efficiency 

1. In the second paragraph of this chapter there is a list of health topics 
of a social character. How these are to be developed is illustrated in the two 
sections, "Co-operative Provisions of Play Facilities," and "The Co-operative 
Fight on Disease." Take each of the other topics enumerated in this para- 
graph and draw up or explain similar plans for their development. 

2. Looking to the community in which your own school is located, make 
out a list of practical activities in which, under favorable conditions at least, 
students may well participate in responsible health activities. What is the 
justification for putting practical activities of this type into the curriculum? 

3. What are some of the aspects of your own community situation about 
which the more mature pupils might currently gather facts both for the sake 
of their own education and for the promotion of the sanitary welfare of the 
community ? 

PART V 

EDUCATION FOR LEISURE OCCUPATIONS 

Chapter XVII. The Function of Play in Human Life 

1. Why should adults play? 

2. What are the most profitable forms of play for the adult? Why should 
the play be different for different individuals? 

3. Why should each individual play in a great variety of ways? 

4. Make out a list of leisure occupations of adults which are relatively 
easy to develop. Make out another list of leisure occupations which are rel- 
atively difficult to develop. For promoting a high state of civilization which 
list is now desirable? What bearing has this situation upon education? 

5. What are some of the school duties or exercises or activities which 
could be continued after school days are over as leisure occupations? What 
does this signify as to the method of organizing and directing these studies 
and exercises during school days ? 



18 

6. Draw up a list of the recreational activities within your neighborhood. 
What are the particular advantages or values of them ? To what extent do 
the adults of the community take advantage of their recreational opportuni- 
ties ? To what extent are valuable possibilities passed by ? What do these 
things signify for education 1 

7. Is training for adult recreation more needed at the present time than 
in the past? 

Chapter XVIII. Reading as a Leisure Occupation 

1. There is a book by Corinne Bacon entitled "Children's Catalogue of 
Thirty-Five Hundred Books:" A Guide to the best reading for boys and 
girls," which ought to be found in every school or public library of any size. 
Get this book or some other list of children's books, or a series of the cata- 
logues of book publishing houses, — the latter can be obtained free of charge, 
— and make lists of book-titles of the type referred to in this chapter: 

(A) A list of books of travel which illumine conditions in various regions 
of the earth; 

(B) A list of readings relating to the various occupations that are treat- 
ed in our geographies ; 

(C) A list of biographical books which reveal in a concrete way present- 
day conditions in various important countries or regions of the world. 

(D) A list of historical stories which reveal past conditions in various 
countries of the world and in various periods of history; 

(E) A list of biographical books chosen with a view to illumining condi- 
tions in various periods of history and various portions of the world; 

(F) Lists of science readings relating to: (1) the animal world; (2) the 
plant world; (3) physical, chemical, mechanical, and electrical science, espe- 
cially in their applications to modern industry, agriculture, inventions, etc.; 
(4) the geographical World; (5) stars, planets and other heavenly bodies; 
etc. 

(G) Literary selections classified on the basis of the illumination that 
they give of the lives, activities, manners and customs, institutions, etc., of 
men and women in the different regions or countries of the world; and possi- 
bly in different periods of the history of these countries. 

2. If the arguments presented in this chapter are valid, what are some 
of the changes to be brought about in the readings given to students in con- 
nection with their training in geography, history, science and literature? 

3. What are some of the practical problems involved in obtaining the 
books? (Naturally the books can be obtained only gradually and we shall 
have to do the best we can with what we have until better can be obtained.) 

PART VI 

EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL INTERCOMMUNICATION 

Chapter XIX. The Mother Tongue 

1. What is meant by getting one's language by entering into the living 
language-experience of the community life ? Under what conditions does 
this experience give practically all of the training needed ? Under what 
conditions is it insufficient? 

2. Should as much as possible of the training of children be left to the 
living language-experience and only such as necessary taken care of through 
the direct teaching of the schools ? If so, what does this mean for the cur- 
riculum of spelling, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and composition? 

3. How is the character of the curriculum in general related to the train- 
ing in language, especially in vocabulary, spelling, and composition? 



19 

4. Mention some ways of bringing a boy or girl to take pride in the char- 
acter of his language and to desire to use a good type of English ? Why is 
this desire more important than a purely intellectual knowledge of the tech- 
nical aspects of the language without such desire ? 

5. After the first few months of training in the rudiments of primary 
reading, what is the main thing necessary in learning the mechanics of read- 
ing in first, second, third, and later grades ? What practical conditions have 
long prevented recognition of this quite obvious common-sense educational 
principle ? Figure out a practical plan of increasing the abundance of read- 
ing on the part of each child now in your school as greatly as possible on the 
basis of the funds that are actually for the purpose ? 

Chapter XX. Training in Foreign Languages 

1. Think of the particular men and women who make up the community 
in which you work. In what specific ways could their present lives be made 
more profitable or beneficent to themselves, whether socially, intellectually, 
economically, or other, through a use on their part of Latin, French or Span- 
ish ? If they had one or more of these languages, under what circum- 
stances would they actually use them? 

2. Make a list of the actual deficiencies that exist in the lives of these 
men and women whom you know, because of a lack of knowledge of foreign 
languages. 

3. Looking to the lives that the boys and girls in your classes are likely to 
live, under what particular circumstances should they, as adults, use Latin, 
French or Spanish ? 

4. Why should the problem of training a boy or girl who wants to learn 
to read a foreign language, be a relatively easy one, while the problem of 
training pupils in required languages in our high schools at present is a rel- 
atively difficult one, requiring a great amount of time on the part of the 
teacher and a relatively large expenditure of public money? 

5. If your work is in high school, pick out the particular pupils who 
could make a profitable use of, let us say, French, and who would be justified 
in mastering it. Should they merely learn to read it, or should they learn to 
speak and write it at the same time ? What ought to be the curriculum for 
the training if they are to read it? And what the curriculum if they are 
also to speak and write it? 

6. To what extent does this chapter favor the retention of foreign lan- 
guages in the public school curriculum ? When retained, for what purposes 
should they be employed? Are there any other valid reasons for the retain- 
ing the foreign languages ? If so, what are they ? What language or lan- 
guages do they demand for the purposes? 

Chapter XXI. Some Concluding Considerations 

1. Mention some of the principles of curriculum-making that the educa- 
tional leader must keep in mind in drawing up courses of study. 

2. What is the usual method of making a course of study where those 
engaged are not guided by principles of curriculum-making? 

3. Illustrate ways in which the well-informed educational leader should 
see very much farther in advance than his practical labors might appear to 
indicate. 

4. Mention reasons in addition to those presented in the text, why prac- 
tical progress must be gradual, by easy steps, and usually relatively slow. Is 
there any justification in this for professional inertia which just lets things 
drift because they cannot be made to go forward rapidly? In terms of the 
factors involved, just how rapidly ought a school system to move forward? 

5. Take up for discussion the various school subjects for which you are 
responsible in your classes and discuss the ten or twenty small ways in which 
improvements can be made immediately in the curriculum of each of them. 



20 



SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL ACCOMPANYING "METH 
ODS AND STANDARDS FOR LOCAL 
SCHOOL SURVEYS" 

(Prepared by the Author) 



Abstractions are of little assistance in furnishing help to the practical 
school administrator or class room teacher. The more specific and concrete 
the suggestion, the greater its value. Accordingly, these supplementary 
pages are presented in the form of specific questions and suggestions, with 
the hope that they will lead teachers and supervisors to collect and interpret 
material encountered in everyday exerience. 

No greater service can be rendered the profession than to develop a truly 
professional attitude toward the problems encountered in the office and class 
room. Devices and methods are soon outworn, but the teacher or principal 
who develops the habit of investigating for himself the problems encountered 
and knows how to draw correct conclusions from the assembled facts can be 
depended upon to invent the method essential to the solution of the problem. 

Such an attitude of mind inevitably results in an increase of efficiency 
and this means certain advance in professional reputation and an increase 
in tangible rewards. 

One of the great faults of the rural school is the attempt to apply to spe- 
cial rural conditions the methods applicable to urban communities. 

A rational procedure is to make a careful analysis of the local situation 
and then on the basis of ascertained facts, adapt the school program to local 
needs. This will involve a study of textbooks and the elimination of mate- 
rial applicable to other conditions. In a cotton growing section, problems in 
arithmetic dealing with cattle raisin? should be replaced by problems that 
have a real significance for the pupils. In English composition, pupils can- 
not write effectively unless they have actual experience with the facts which 
they are trying to express. 

History and geography are vastly more significant if they are related 
directly with local conditions. 

Doubtless many of the topics suggested in these pages are entirely irrele- 
vant, as knowledge of the community is essential to the preparation of perti- 
nent questions. The principle determining the selection of problems, how- 
ever, is perfectly clear and should enable each individual group of teacher 
students to make the necessary substitutions. 

Some of the problems are of general application and are as significant to 
rural teachers as to those in city schools. The chief consideration is the 
development of the hab't of inquiry, the spirit which leads the teacher to 
investigate the facts and then to follow the course which most closely corre- 
lates the work of the school with the problems of the community and the 
home. 

Chapter HI 

Organization and Administration 

1. What political unit should be used as the basis for rural school organi- 
zation? 

2. Show distances to be traveled by individual pupls in the event of con- 
solidations that seem possible. 

3. Compare costs of transportaton with those for maintenance of sepa- 
rate school. 

4. Show gain to pupils in wider choice of subjects and longer recitation 
periods. 



21 

Chapter IV 
Supervision and Instruction 

1. In whom should the administrative authority for rural schools be 
vested ? 

2. Amount of supervision in different schools: 

One room Consolidated Village City 

3. Correlation of supervision with quality of equipment: 

No. of Percent Percent Percent 
Schools. Good. Fair. Poor. 

Supervised _ _ _ 

Unsupervised. _ ^ 

A similar study might be made of the quality of instruction based upon 
results of standard tests. Here is an opportunity to affect State policy rad- 
ically. 

4. Compare general efficiency in schools with supervision with those in 
which it is lacking. 

5. List of devices employed for supervisory, administrative, or instruc- 
tional purposes. 

6. Relative attainments of country and city children. 

7. Assume "a helping teacher" assigned to a certain group of rural 
schools. Outline a program showing how she could assist teachers to better 
their work. Place emphasis upon helping inexperienced teachers. 

Training and Improvement of Teachers 

1. Percentage of teachers holding each type of certificate. 

2. Outline a plan by which teachers applying for a certificate may be 
rated upon ability to impart instruction. 

3. Outline a plan giving credit to teachers both in salary and certificate 
for summer school and extension work; for reading circle. 

4. Indicate minimum requirements desirable for preliminary teachers' 
certificate. 

5. Determine medium length of teaching service of the group of teach- 
ers. 

6. Percentage of group of teachers with experience of one year, two 
years, etc. 

7. Compare percentages of teachers with professional training in rural 
schools, centralized schools, and village schools. 

8. Outline advantages to the teacher and the community if the district 
should provide teacher's cottage or "teacherage." 

Chapters VI and VII 
Attendance and Census 

1. What is the number of children of school age in the district? What 
per cent are in attendance at school ? 

2. What is the number of persistent attendances, i. e., what number at- 
tend 160 days out of possible 180, etc.? 

3. Compare length of school term in Alabama with that of other states. 
Your school with others in your county. Your county with other counties. 

4. What is the character of absences from school in each district? 

5. Is the percentage of elimination increasing? 

6. How many children drop out of school each year by schools and 
grades. 



22 

Progress Through School 

1. What is the percentage of non-promotion for a series of years by dis- 
tricts and grades ? 

2. What is the effect of industrial work on attendance and elimination ? 

3. Outline a program for the prevention of truancy. 

4. Design an ideal permanent biographical card. 

5. Make a list of the common errors in speech made by pupils. 

6. Make a list of material available to motivate work in rural schools. 

7. Outline a plan for developing in pupils right habits of honesty, cour- 
tesy, neatness, punctuality, etc. 

8. Male a list of suitable books to be read by teacher to the school. 

9. Make a list of home-made apparatus for teaching geography in schools 
where the equipment is inadequate. 

10. Compare results obtained in Alabama schools with standards given in 
Chapter VII, Methods for Local Surveys. Make concrete by charting the 
results, using one of the methods shown in Chapter XV. 

Chapter VIII 

Program and Curriculum 

1 To what extent does the curriculum meet the needs of the local com- 
munity ? 

2. Study of the possible elimination of irrelevant subject matter. 

3. Detailed study of the opportunities for consolidation of classes. 

4 Check course of study by curriculum aims indicated in Chapter VIII 
of Methods for Local Surveys. 

5. Prepare a desirable list of titles for school library. 

6 Prepare a list of titles for supplementary reading. Be sure to cover 
the respective fields. 

7. Discuss the value for your community, of the following teaching 
topics: 



Cotton 


Knots 


Gardens 


Spraying 


Corn 


Potatoes 


Bread 


Aid to the sick 


Soil 


Insects 


Sewing 


Removing stains 


Dairy 


Rotation 







8. Make a list of home projects for school credit which will tend to bring 
about a closer co-operation between home and school. Be sure the projects 
are educational. 

9. How may the school train pupils for the wise use of leisure ? 

Industrial Arts 

1. Number or percentage of schools in county operating school gardens. 

2. Number or percentage of schools in county having 



Milk tester 
Seed tester 
Corn tester 
Soil tester 
Microscope 



Milk separator 
Incubator 

Apparatus illustrat- 
ing osmosis 
Grafting tests 



Germinator 

Collections 

Slides 

Spraying apparatus 



3 Number of percentage of schools teaching cooking ? Sewing ? 
4. List of cooking equipment readily obtainable through efforts 
school. 



of 



23 

Chapter IX 
The Socialized Rural School 

1. What steps have been taken by the school to interest the community 
in education ? 

2. Prepare a list of agencies whose help should be enlisted in behalf of 
the schools 

3. Has the population of your district been increasing or diminishing 
during the past ten years, and by what percentage? 

4. What per cent, of the farmers are renters? On what terms do they 
rent ? 

5. Is the racial complexion of the community changing? In what way 
and how rapidly? 

6. What percentage of the people are church members ? Of those that 
are not, what is the reason ? Have they a church preference ? 

7. To whom would you report a case of economic distress? 

Chapter X 

Buildings and Equipment 

1. Plan an ideal rural school building, including grounds and shrubbery. 

2. Make a minimum list of equipment. Add desirable equipment. 

Chapter XI 

Rural School Hygiene 

Every effort should be made to present this subject in a definite, concrete 
and vital manner Personal hygiene may be treated from the standpoint of 
good taste and good breeding. The memorization of text book facts is of 
little value. Every child should be required to react on the various problems 
discussed. The effect of the daily environment and the school routine cannot 
be overestimated. The required use of individual drinking cups will accom- 
plish more than a perfect recitation upon bacteria. Care of the skin, hair, 
and teeth is best taught by making these things personal matters. 

1. Compare percentages of physical defects in rural schools with those 
in city schools. 

2. Outline a plan by which several districts may co-operate to obtain 
medical or nurse supervision. 

3. Make a list of playground apparatus which can be made locally. 

4. Enumerate a list of games suitable to a rural school playground. 

5. Percentage of schools with hygienic seats properly placed; with ther- 
mometers; with individual pencils. 

6. Amount of play space available. 

7. Are buildings provided with ventilated cloak rooms ? Closets for 
apparatus? 

8. Is lighting adequate ? From proper direction ? 

9. Are stoves jacketed ? 

10. Are direct draughts prevented by window boards? 

11. Are sanitary accommodations 'separate, adequate, and clean? 

12. Is a non-drying oil used on floor? 

13. Is feather duster banished? 

14. Are windows and floors kept clean? 

15. Ten sanitary commandments for rural schools: 

1. Heating by a jacketed stove or basement furnace. Ventilation by 
direct outdoor inlets and by adequate and direct foul air outlets. 



24 

2. Lighting from left or left and rear with window space at least 
one-fifth of floor space. 

3. Cleanliness of school equal to that of a careful house-keeper. 

4. Furniture sanitary in kind and easily and frequently cleansed. 
Seats and desks adjustable and hygienic in type. 

5. Drinking water from a pure source provided by a sanitary drink- 
ing fountain. 

6. Facilities for washing hands and individual towels. 

7. Toilets sanitary in type and in care. No cesspools unless water 
tight. 

8. Flies and mosquitoes excluded by thorough screening of school- 
house and toilets. 

9. Obscene and defacing marks absolutely absent from school-house 
and toilets. 

10. Playgrounds of adequate size for every rural school made attract- 
ive by well arranged shrubbery. 

Chapter XII 
Finance 

1. Correlation of cost per pupil with cost of teaching and supervision. 

2. Comparative school tax of Alabama with other states of the South; 
with the North. 

3. Compare actual school expenditures in each district with real wealth 
of the community. 



25 



SUGGESTIVE ANALYTICAL REVIEW AND QUESTIONS 
FOR "THE ROOTS OF THE WAR" 

Prepared by the Author. 



Chapter I 



1. The "Ems dispatch;" How was it issued? What was the result? 

2. How well were Germany and France respectively prepared for war in 
1870? 

3. The battles around Metz and the French disaster at Sedan. 

4. What government in France replaced the "Second Empire?" The 
feats of Gambetta. 

5. The siege and surrender of Paris. 

6. What terms did Germany impose on France ? 

7. The main consequences of the "Treaty of Frankfort." 

Chapter II 

1. What processes were at work in the world between 1871 and 1914 ? 

2. The condition of Fiance in 1871. 

3. The dominant position of Germany. 

4. The leadership of Bismarck; the strength and weakness of his per- 
sonality. 

5. The character of the old-style European "diplomacy." 

6. Achievements and failures of the Bismarckian regime. 

Chapter III 

1. The six "Great Powers" of Europe in 1871. 

2. The favorable position of England; Mr. Gladstone's pacifistic policy. 

3. Italy and her colonial ambition. 

4. The attempt to hold together the Hapsburg "conglomerate" (Aus- 
trian Empire); Franz- Joseph and his organization of the Dual Monarchy. 

5. Russia — The partial civilization introduced by Peter the Great; signs 
of progress; freeing of the serfs. 

6. Russia seeking an ocean outlet; the opening of the Black Sea in 1870. 

Chapter IV 

1. The state of Turkey about 1870. Why were the Ottoman Turks abom- 
inable as rulers ? 

2. The rise of the free kingdom of Greece. 

3. What were the Albanians? 

4. Serbia under the Turkish yoke. How was the free principality of 
Serbia founded? 

5. The Bulgars prior to 1870. 

6. The Rumanians; their alleged Roman origin; condition under Turkish 
suzerainty; Prince Carol (a Hohenzollern) becomes prince of Rumania. 

7. What great powers were interested in the fate of the Turkish Empire 
about 1870 ? 

Chapter V 

1. The Bosnian revolt against the Turks in 1875. 

2. Disraeli and the attitude of England on the Eastern Question. 



26 

3. How did the "Bulgarian Massacres" react on the whole Balkan situa- 
tion? 

4. What was the position of Czar Alexander II toward the Turkish prob- 
lem? 

5. The outbreak of the Turko-Russian War. 

6. How did the siege of Plevna become the center of the struggle ? 

7. The treaty of San Stefano and the position of England. 

8. What were the main arrangements in the treaty of Berlin ? The con- 
sequences of that treaty ? 

Chapter VI 

1. The condition of Egypt under the Khedives. 

2. The financial follies of Ismail and their results. 

3. How did the revolt of Arabi produce European intervention in Egypt? 

4. The battle of Tel-el-Kebir. 

5. Why was England unable to withdraw from the occupation of Egypt ? 

6. How did the revolt of the "Mahdi" in the "Equatoria" become a prob- 
lem for England ? 

7. The expedition and death of Gordon. 

8. The battle of Omdurman and the avenging of Gordon. 

9. What was the condition of Egypt under the English protectorate ? 

Chapter VII 

1. Why have we changed the estimate of France we had before 1914? 

2. How and when was the "Third Republic" founded? 

3. How did the monarchists try to overthrow the republic in the '70's ? 

4. What was the main importance of the "incident" of the 16th of May, 
1877? 

5. Why does France have such short-lived ministries? 

6. How did the Alsace-Lorraine question keep alive French hatred of 
Germany? 

7. The French military system. 
8. The expansion of the French colonial empire. (See also Appendix, 
p. 539.) 

Chapter VIII 

1. The main steps in Italian national consolidation. 

2. What is the constitution of Italy today ? 

3. The Italian parliamentary system. 

4. How are North and South Italy opposed to one another ? 

5. The issue between the Italian government and the Vatican. 

6. The relations between Italy and France. 

7. "Unredeemed Italy" and Italian relations with Austria. 

8. German influence in Italy. How was Italy swept into the Great War ? 

Chapter IX 

1. The founding of the German Empire in 1871. 

2. In what things, before 1871, had Germany excelled? In what failed? 
How was she cursed by subdivisions ? 

3. The circumstances of the growth of Prussia? 

4. The movement for liberation after 1815 and the disastrous Frankfort 
parliament of 1848; consequences of its failure. 

5. How Bismarck achieved German unity by unconstitutional and mili- 
taristic methods. 



27 

6. What were the main points in the German Imperial Constitution? 
Where lay the real power ? Why was the Reichstag very weak ? 

7. The main points in the Prussian Constitution. What was the "three 
class system?" 

8. The Junker Class: its virtues, vices and habits. 

Chapter X 

1. What signs were there of great prosperity in Germany prior to the 
Great War? 

2. What change had come over the mood and temper, of the German 
people since 1870? 

3. Of Bismarck's handling of domestic problems; the "Kultur-Kampf ;" 
the Socialists; the economic problems? 

4. Kaiser Frederick and the accession of William II. 

5. How was Bismarck dismissed by William II? 

6. Strength and weakness of William II. 

7. The personal government of William. Growth of the Socialist vote. 

8. What was the "Zabern incident?" Its importance. 

Chapter XI 

1. How did Germany differ from other great powers in containing a dis- 
affected population? 

2. How did Germany acquire Schleswig-Holstein ? The coercion of the 
Danes? 

3. The division of Poland. Fate of the Poles under their three masters? 
Causes of friction with the Prussians ? 

4. How did the Germans attempt to "colonize" the Polish provinces and 
tuppress the Polish language? 

5. Attitude of Germans towards Alsace-Lorraine at the time of annexa- 
tion. 

6. How did the German administrators try alternately to mollify and 
eoerce the Alsatians? 

7. What was the situation in Alsace just prior to the Great War? 

Chapter XII 

1. How was Bulgaria started as a separate principality? The annexation 
of Eastern Rumelia. The defeat of Serbia. 

2. How was Prince Alexander driven from power in Bulgaria ? The 
accession of Prince Ferdinand. The domination and downfall of Stambulov. 

3. Serbia under Kings Milan and Alexander; murder of Alexander and 
Draga; accession of Peter. 

4. How did Greece struggle to get Crete? 

5. The war between Turkey and Greece, 1897; results of this war. 

Chapter XIII 

1. The main elements in the population of Turkey after 1878. 

2. Character and governmental methods of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II. 

3. Wane of English and Russian influence at Constantinople. How did 
the Sultan draw nearer to Germany and William II ? 

4. The status of the Armenians under the Sultan. 

5. The Armenian massacres, 1894-96. 

6. What ought England to have done in behalf of the Armenians, and 
what did she do? 



28 

7. William Second's visit to the Levant, 1898; the German attempt to 
secure the Bagdad railway. 

8. How did the "Young Turks" dethrone Abdul-Hamid ? 

Chapter XIV 

1. What conditions in Austria-Hungary justified saying, "It is a state 
and not a nation?" 

2. What were the chief nationalities in the Hapsburg Empire? Their 
characteristics ? 

3. The main features of the Constitution of the "Dual" Monarchy. 

4. The ambitions of the Czechs; their collision with the Germans? 

5. How were the Magyars the dominant race of Hungary ? The methods 
of "Magyarization." 

6. The problems and troubles of Croatia-Slavonia. 

7. How did the situation in Austria-Hungary lend itself to foreign influ- 
ences and intrigues? 

N. B. — The reader of this chapter will recall that it was written before 
the absolute dissolution of the Hapsburg Monarchy in 1918, and when there 
seemed still a fair chance that the old empire could be kept together. 

Chapter XV 

1. What were the principles of Bismarck's diplomacy after 1871 ? 

2. What seems to have been the acts about the "War Scare" of 1875? 

3. How did Germany and Russia drift apart after the Berlin Congress? 

4. How did Italy become estranged from France ? 

5. The entrance of Italy into the "Triple Alliance." 

6. The drawing-together of Russia and France. What financial aid did 
France give Russia? 

7. How was the "Dual Alliance" formed? Consequences to Germany of 
the act ? 

Chapter XVI 

1. The two great departments of international law. On what basis and 
principles has international law developed? 

2. What steps had been taken prior to 1898 to mitigate the hardships of 
war? 

3. The theories of the pacifists; the militarists; of the "middle class of 
thinkers." 

4. How and when was the "First Hague Conference" called? 

5. What were the problems laid before the conference? What was the 
most important problem? 

6. The attitude of Germany toward the problem of disarmament. 

7. The "Second Hague Conference;" attitude of Germany there. What 
were the practical results of these conferences ? 

Chapter XVII 

1. What was the influence of Nietzsche ? Of Treitschke ? What was the 
latter's attitude towards England? 

2. How did the "World Empire" virus enter Germany? 

3. What are some prominent instances of "Pan-German" national con- 
ceit and self-sufficiency ? 

4. The German hankering for colonies. How far was this satisfied by 
peaceful means? 

5. What were the arguments by which the Pan-Germans justified their 
schemes for aggrandisement? 



29 

6. Bernhardi and his interpretation of Pan-Germans doctrines; his influ- 
ence and importance. 

7. What was the attitude of the Crown Prince and of the kaiser towards 
the Pan-German movement? 

Chapter XVIII 

1. What old points of friendship had Germany possessed with England ? 

2. Wherein were Germany and England getting out of sympathy? 

3. Von Tirpitz and the building of the German fleet. How did this react 
on Britain ? 

4. The work of Edward VII in anti-German diplomacy. 

5. Did British naval power menace Germany ? Did German naval power 
menace Britain? 

6. The utterances of William II; the "Haldane visit" to Berlin. What 
was the naval situation in 1914? 

7. How did Lord Roberts endeavor to awaken the British nation? 

Chapter XIX 

1. Why did Morocco become a center for European interest ? 

2. The character of the Sultan's rule. What European powers had an 
interest in Morocco? 

3. The Anglo-French treaty of 1904. How did Germany intervene? 
What was the real German object ? 

4. The Algeciras conference and its decisions. 

5. How did France intervene in Morocco again? How did the dispatch of 
a German warship to Agadir produce a new crisis ? 

6. The Anglo-French entente. How was Germany edged out of Morocco? 

Chapter XX 

1. What causes made it easy after 1908 to produce an upset in Eastern 
Europe ? 

2. The rebuff of Russia and Serbia by Austria and Germany in 1909. 

3. The Turko-Italian war over Tripoli. 

4. The Macedonian problem and how the "Young Turks" handled it. 

5. How was the first Balkan war precipitated ? 

6. The military defeat of Turkey, and the treaty of London. 

7. The second Balkan war. How far was Bulgaria to blame? The in- 
tervention of Rumania. 

8. The treaty of Bucharest. Did it promise peace or more trouble ? The 
effect of these wars upon Germany. 

Chapter XXI 

1. At what points was Russia seeking an "ice-free" outlet upon the sea? 

2. What was the result of her efforts to get a port on the Persian gulf? 
In the Far East in China ? 

3. The return of Russian interest and ambition to Constantinople and the 
Near East. 

4. What was Pan-Slavism (see p. 458) ? How far was it popular in Rus- 
sia? How did it affect Russian relations with other countries? 

5. German influence at Petrogad ("St. Petersburg"). 

6. How did the growth of Russian manufactures influence the diplomatic 
situation ? 

7. What forces were around the Czar in 1914 unfavorable to Germany? 
Friendly to Germany ? 



30 

N. B. This chapter of course was written before the abject collapse of 
Russia and the practical dissolution of her empire in 1918-19, after her long 
time rulers had lost the least control of her policy. 

Chapter XXII 

1. In what forms and where did the "Peace Movement" seem prospering 
just before the crisis of 1914? 

2. Prophets of pacifism, especially the work of "Norman Angell;" the 
main teachings of his "Great Illusion;" his attitude toward the "German 
Peril." 

3. The German secret report on the military problem, March, 1913. 

4. The action of France as to armaments in 1913. What "enemies" were 
the German leaders planning to attack first? The new German military law. 

5. The tension between Serbia and Austria; the anti- Austrian propa- 
ganda in Bosnia. 

6. The murder of Arch-duke Ferdinand at Serajevo. Was it wholly un- 
welcome to Austro-Hungarian politicians? What opportunity did it give 
the Pan-German intriguers? 

Chapter XXIII 

1. The "Serbian note" of July 23, 1914. What were its main contents? 
How presented ? Time limit ? Immediate results ? 

2. How did England endeavor to get Germany to restrain Austria ? What 
was the position of Russia ? 

3. The attempt of Bethmann-Hollweg to secure English neutrality. 
What was England's answer? 

4. The attempt of the Czar to secure William Second's mediation; results. 

5. The military preparations in Germany. Why was mobilization de- 
layed? The "Lokal-Anzeiger" fake dispatch; probable effects. 

6. Russian mobilization; German mobilization; German declaration of 
war on Russia; German demands on France. 

Chapter XXIV 

1. What was the position of England when Germany declared war on 
Russia ? 

2. Origin of Belgian neutrality. Uneasiness in Belgium as to German 
intentions. 

3. How did Germany reply to England's question about respecting Bel- 
gian neutrality? 

4. The German demands on Belgium. How answered ? 

5. Grey's demands on Germany. What was Bethmann-Hollweg's "Ne- 
cessity" speech? 

6. England's declaration of war. The "Scrap of Paper" incident. 

NOTE ON EXTRA READINGS 

Users of "The Roots of the War" will notice that pages 541-545 give a 
list of books useful to students who desire to make a detailed study of events 
between 1870 and 1914. 

If time is limited probably the following works will be found the most 
useful: 

Seymour, "The Diplomatic Background of the War," for all the chapters 
relating to diplomatic history. 



31 

Gibbons, "The New Map of Europe," for most phases of Balkan history, 
especially supplementary to chapters IV, V, XIII and XX in the present vol- 
ume. 

Schmitt, "England and Germany," supplementary to chapters IX, X, 
XVII, and XVIII of the present volume. 

Much excellent material will also be found in the recent book by C. D. 
Hazen, "Fifty Years of Europe (1870-1919)," particularly the chapters on 
France, Italy, Austria, the British Empire, and Russia. There is a succinct 
account in this work of the "World War" (pp. 316-414). 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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